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Proceeding contribution from James Paice (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Thursday, 21 January 2010. It occurred during Topical debate on Food Industry Competitiveness.


Food Industry Competitiveness

I hesitate to intervene on my hon. Friend—clearly, we are not going to agree on all fronts—but I entirely share his view that if a supplier wants to do a "buy one, get one free" offer, it is a matter between the supplier and the supermarket. My concern, however, is where the supermarket goes to the supplier and says, "We have decided to do one of these offers and you are going to fund it." Does my hon. Friend think that that sort of retrospective impact on a supplier, which the code of practice is designed to get rid of, is fair? Another issue is the principle of retrospective discounts, where at the end of the financial year—I know this from first-hand experience of businesses in my constituency—supermarkets decide that they have paid suppliers too much for potatoes, onions and carrots over the year, so they demand big cheques, some of which have run to seven figures.


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
504 c482 
Session
2009-10
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Codes of practice Agriculture Industry Food Labelling Food supply Standards Trade competitiveness
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk